3 Types of Technology Teachers Shouldn't Be Without

Technology is part and parcel of the modern schoolroom. Teachers can either continue to learn and grow themselves, or be left behind. Fortunately, the tech that's out there is both cool and easy to use. Best of all, it actually helps students achieve more than they could before.

Presentation Tools

Every good teacher needs presentation tools but, while there are plenty to choose from, there's also an elephant standing in the room that no one is talking about. With most presentations, teachers rely on animations or videos. Where do these videos come from? Primarily from the Internet. What happens when the school's Internet access is slow or intermittent?
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Here's where a good video downloader comes in handy. Sites likehttp://youtubedownload.altervista.org make it easy to convert educational and informative YouTube videos, for example, to a format that can be played directly from a teacher's hard drive. Rather than fight slow server times, buffering, and waste students' time, the teacher can prepare the video the day before and play it for the class without any problems during class.

Social Learning Tools

Programs like Edmodo, Grockit, EduBlogs, and Schoology promise to make the classroom more social. No, students won't become unwieldy, and no, teachers aren't wrong for quieting students at the start of class. Integrating social programs into the normal lesson planning will actually make the teacher's job easier.

For example, teachers and students can take advantage of a program like Edmodo to turn the classroom into a sort of "Facebook"-style experience. The program looks surprisingly similar to the popular social networking site with one major difference: it's geared toward education.

Teachers can upload lesson plans, ask students questions, and hand out assignments. Students can participate in class surveys and polls, have discussions about class, and interact with other students in a virtual environment.

Another good program is EduBlogs. This program allows teachers to set up blogs for the classroom that are safe and secure. Wikispaces allow teachers to share lessons, media, and other materials online with students. Schoology allows teachers to manage lessons, engage students, and share content with other educators.

OpenStudy is a program that encourages students to work together to learn new class material and ePals is one of the few sites out there that allows students to interact with other students from around the world - they can learn new languages and new cultures different from their own.

Grade-Tracking

Socrative is just one example of a program that turns learning into a sort of game. Students can access the program on computers, tablets, and even smartphones. Teachers can easily assess the student's progress and track grades over time.

These types of programs change the learning environment radically, but they also simplify it in many ways. Instead of educators having to track grades manually, they can often see progress in real-time or at least on a day-by-day basis. Changes to lesson plans can be made quickly. In some cases, the software does all or most of the work. Consider EdSurge, a company that has introduced "adaptive learning".

Teachers basically allow the software program to modify and adjust lesson plans "on the fly" to suit the student's current skill and ability. Grades are tracked automatically, and students progress at a pace that's appropriate for them.
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